gettysburgreunion1913

Daniel Sickles (1819-1914) lost his leg during the Civil War. Colorful character: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Sickles Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Disability History, and we'd love to have this added to the group!

Judging by the hat and the solder escorting him, I'd guess that he's at the Grand Reunion of 1913, held at Gettysburg Pennsylvania, to mark the 50th anniversary of the battle. Sickles lost his leg, and a large portion of his command, there. He donated his lost limb to a medical museum in Washington, where he'd visit it from time to time. Earlier in life, he shot and killed Philip Barton Key, Francis Scott Key's son, who was having an affair with his wife. I believe he was the first American to use the temporary insanity defense.

Mrs. Wilmerding is Eleanor Earle Wilmerding, who was Sickles' housekeeper and mistress. She lived with him in New York; his estranged wife and adult son lived in a nearby hotel when they were in town. Mrs. Wilmerding controlled who visited SIckles in his later years, and accompanied him on his rare public appearances (at 93, he was no longer capable of making speeches). Surprisingly, she died before him, in February 1914--he passed away a few weeks later, in April. www.sicklesatgettysburg.com/Sickles_Biography.html

I think MDRails could well be correct about this being related to the reunion of July 1913, especially because of the army uniform of his escort. He was especially of interest to the New York media becaue of the alleged missapropriation of $23,476 from the State Monument Commission of which he was Chairman, according to this report of January 27, 1913: query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9C04E7D81E3AE633A...

Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Veterans of the American Civil War, and we'd love to have this added to the group!

Vice President Marshall arrived at Gettysburg on the afternoon of July 3, 1913 for the purpose of addressing the assembled Civil War Veterans at the 50th Anniversary commemorationso of the Battle of Gettysburg (battle ran from July 1 to July 3 1863 See this report from the New Yrok Times of the next day, July 4, 1913: query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9F01E0DD153FE6...

Thanks lifeasdaddy for the link to the NYTimes article and for connecting the photographs from this group that were taken at the same event at Gettysburg. We'll fill in the caption information next time we update this record.

There are a bunch of other photographs in the Bain Collection related to this event, although not yet uploaded to Flickr. Most of them are consistent with the newspaper description of the event, such as the tented encampment etcetera. You can find them by searching for "gettysburg" in the Bain Collection at the LOC. This link should work for the search page: lcweb2.loc.gov/pp/ggbainquery.html

During a debate in the U. S. Senate, Thomas Riley Marshall coined the immortal phrase, "What this country needs is a really good five-cent cigar." (As Vice President, he presided over the Senate.)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Riley_Marshall

This was on July 3, 1913 and the occasion was the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. See related note at adjacent photograph in series here: www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/3641564726/in/p...

Thanks lifeasdaddy, for your link to the NYTimes article (in the adjacent photo) about the event. It's a great read. We'll fill in the caption information and add the date next time we update this record.

LOC -- Bain misspelled Gen. Liggett's name. This is Brigadier General Hunter Liggett, president of the Army War College, who was commander of the Gettysburg encampment during the 1913 reunion. Fort Hunter Liggett in California was named for him. He would have been 56 when this picture was taken. Wikipedia entry for Hunter Liggett: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_Liggett

Other Bain/LOC photos of Gen. Liggett (his name misspelled as Leggett) at the Gettysburg 50th anniversary commemoration: www.flickr.com/search/?q=leggett&w=8623220@N02